In the first of two episodes about the Manson Family’s most famous victim, we’ll trace actress Sharon Tate’s early years, her romance with celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring, and the on-set affair that changed the course of Tate’s life and career. Plus: sex, drugs, haunted houses, Warren Beatty and Steve McQueen.

In the immediate aftermath of the Manson murders, much misinformation, rumor and slander about the victims was published as fact, so it can be difficult to sort out truth from fiction even today -- particularly when it comes to things like sexual habits and drug consumption. My primary sources for this chapter were Roman Polanski's autobiography Roman by Polanski;Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders by Greg King; and My Husband, My Friend by Neile Adams McQueen. This 2002 story on Jay Sebring from the New York Times Magazine is a little odd, but it was useful for me to understand Sebring's accomplishments as a hairdresser. The Warren Beatty/Shampoo stuff came from Peter Biskind's Star and Easy Riders, Raging Bulls -- books which cover the same territory in almost the same exact language at times.

Today we introduce a new special guest: Ram Bergman played Roman Polanski.